Our France vacation June-July 2017
Les Négresses Vertes – Volia l’ete (Summer)
Heard this song playing outside at a wine tasting today, and it reminded me of a truly great band from the late ’80s – Les Négresses Vertes.
If The Waterboys had been born French, they would have sounded like these guys. Lead singer Helno Rota, who died of a heroin overdose at the age of 29, in 1993, was the real deal – a great singer, performer, and hell-raiser.
This song is from the band’s classic from 1988 Mlah
We had a fun day at the Festival d’ Avignon yesterday. There’s a wide range of theater productions happening throughout each day. You’d need a week in Avignon to see them all.
You wouldn’t seek out Avignon primarily for their museums, as you might in Paris. But there are great shops and boutiques, bars and restaurants everywhere, and a cool youthful vibe in the city.
As we were walking through the streets of the walled city, a young women who looked like Audrey Hepburn circa Roman Holiday, approached us riding on the back of a classic red motor scooter. Turns out, she was promoting her evening performance as – Audrey Hepburn! Pausing on her scooter, she sang a tune from My Fair Lady sounding much like Marni Nixon, and then off she went. Later, I snapped a photo of this poster hanging in a shop window.
The majority of the shows were serious drama and as you’d expect, performed in French, so we didn’t buy tickets to any of the featured events, but saw dozens of street performances.
We had a tasty lunch and ice cream cones by the Palace of the Popes, the fourteenth-century Gothic palace built by the popes who made Avignon their home.
Here’s a group of young gals singing a bit of “Hit the Road, Jack” – a favorite song of Pope Innocent VI way back in 1352, hundreds of years before Ray Charles would record the song in 1960, proving the pope’s miraculous powers. Or something like that.
Monday evening, we drove an hour north to the ancient theater of Orange for the Chorégies d’Orange music festival. The Roman-style outdoor theater was built during the reign of Augustus in the 1st century. It was restored for the purpose of presenting opera performances back to 1869.
Last night’s show featured the renowned Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, and the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra – considered the finest in France. I’m not a huge fan of opera, nor Wagner in particular (who composed most of the pieces that were performed.) Like my friend Jim who sat with me at the concert, I prefer my Wagner performed by Elmer Fudd.
A highlight for me though, was when Terfel closed the evening with a Welsh traditional song that I’ve always loved. I may be one of a very few humans who own Bryn Terfel’s recording of Welsh folk songs, We’ll Keep a Welcome. I’ve probably listened to this CD more than any other recording in a language that I can’t understand. I love it, and Bryn clearly loves his native land enough to close the program with a song from Wales.
Sitting in the theater itself is certainly worth the price of admission – even withouth world-class orchestras and vocalists. Though last year’s concert was more memorable, I can’t think of another place I would have rather have been than at the Chorégies d’Orange.
Some pictures from the event with myself, Linda, Jim and Shirley
The picnic was a technical achievement as well, as we ate the lunch portion near the base of the Eiffel, and the leftovers for dinner at a small park near Pont Neuf.
After a short morning hike through the woods and a delicious lunch with our friends Shirley and Jim, along with special guest Grezelda from the village, I’ve finally surrendered to the head cold I’ve been fighting the past few days. Now I’m sniffling through what I hope is a restorative nap on the sofa, while listening to Les Choristes soundtrack CD, which I bought in Paris for only $1.50.
This 2004 movie is about a new teacher winning-over his students at a brutal French boarding school through music. The Petits Chanteurs de Saint Marc choir supply the on-screen boys’ angelic vocals. Think Dead Poets Society, only the kids wear tight shorts and sing with very high voices (perhaps cause and effect). I joke. The film is excellent. Try it some evening.
When traveling, it is always so very wonderful when your innkeepers become your friends. This was the case in both Paris and Uzes for us.
In Paris, we stayed in the 15th, a short walk from Georges Brassens Park. Our host Gildas is a brilliant photographer (he would modestly say “non”) and world-traveler (recent trips to Iran, India.) In the evenings, after walking miles across Paris, it was tres groovy to sit with Gildas at the table and talk bout all sorts of things – France, the USA, Macron et Trump, Paris metro tips, climate change, music, films, photography, life. We were instant friends and hope to keep in touch via Facebook.
In Uzes, we stayed with Yannick, her son Jean-Phillipe, along with their three dogs: Juan, Tataeille, and Merika. Last evening, Yannick shared a delicious bottle of vin de St. Joseph with us and we talked and laughed for a few hours. Using the modest French I remember from my lessons at St. Peter School, I somehow communicated to our friends that prior to climate change, the lobsters in Maine grew to the size of a Shetland ponies (I exaggerated a bit.) They said, “Mon Dieu” and I said “Oui!”
This morning, there is a cool breeze in the air.
I often forget whether or not I visited a famous monument, but I never forget the people I share laughter with.
Pas De Merde 